Ethiopia nabs rebels over suspected bomb plot

Ethiopia's security forces announced on Wednesday they apprehended two members of an outlawed rebel group Ginbot 7 who were preparing bomb attacks in Ethiopia's northern Amhara regional state.

A joint statement by the Joint-Anti Terrorism Task Force and Ethiopia Federal Police said the suspects were caught with four grenades as they were preparing to attack entertainment places in Bahir Dar city, the capital of Amhara regional state.

The statement went on to blame Ethiopia’s arch rival Eritrea for the bomb plot, accusing it of supporting terror plots in various parts of Ethiopia.

Ethiopia alleges Patriots-Ginbot 7 and other rebel groups are supported by Eritrea. Eritrea in turn accuses Ethiopia of supporting Eritrean rebel groups and running an international campaign to isolate the Red Sea nation.

Eritrea had been a province of Ethiopia from 1952-1993, until a bitter 30-year armed struggle followed by a referendum in 1993 gave Eritrea independence from Ethiopia.

However, the two nations relapsed into conflict five years later in a bloody border war between 1998-2000 that left an estimated 70,000 people dead from both sides.

Since then, the common border between Eritrea and Ethiopia has had an uneasy calm punctuated occasionally by sporadic armed flare-ups. Enditem